Thursday, 27 November 2014

DNA Replication: Initiation,Elongation,Termination





Act I 
Initiation

Helicase splits/opens the template DNA strand at the replication fork = creation of bubble



Single-strand binding proteins stabilize the unwound parental DNA , otherwise there is a risk the strands will bond back together

A lot of tension has built up , from parts of the DNA strands being straightened. The gyrase cuts the stands to release tension

RNA primase creates RNA primers that act as a starting point for replication

The DNA polymerase III recognize the primers




Act II
Elongation 

The parental strands are replicated  in the direction of 5' to 3' 

Leading strand- Polymerase III begins adding nucleotides to the RNA primer in the direction of the opening  replication fork, it does this continuously

The lagging strand waits for enough of the replication fork to open ...... when it has opened sufficiently a DNA primer  attaches to the parental strand and polymerase III  makes a new starting point( discontinuous process)

The second strand is composed of  Okazaki fragments ( 100-200 nucleotides long) and RNA  primers 




Lagging= discontinuous, RNA primers, Okazaki fragments , polymerase III

Leading= continuous, 1 Primer, Polymerase III



The two new strands are assembled in the opposite direction





Act III
Termination 

Polymerase I removes the RNA nucelotides  one at a time, replacing them with DNA nucleotides, this process is catalyzed by DNA ligase 

Polymerase I and polymerase II( slow enzyme)  are repair mechanisms, they work to repair damage done to DNA during replication, and proofread



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